Penn State University Libraries - WMNST 421: European Women's History

Now that you have read what others have written it is time to research relevant historical documents. The books and articles you have read should provide some leads, but you will also want to discover sources on your own. Below are some historical collections in the University Libraries to help get you started.

Collections of Printed Source Documents

Many historical documents are reproduced years later and published in anthologies.

A few examples:

• Ages of Woman, Ages of Man : Sources in European Social History, 1400-1750
• Conduct Literature for Women, 1500-1640 (Altoona)
• Conduct Literature for Women, 1640-1710 (Altoona)
• European Women : a Documentary History, 1789-1945
• Varieties of Women's Sensation Fiction, 1855-1890

Use the Subject Heading “Sources ” in The CAT to search for collections of primary source documents. Combine this with a broad topic, e.g. women AND sources.

Letters, Diaries, Memoirs, etc…

The easiest way to locate these works is to search The CAT by the individual's name, e.g. Marie Antoinette, Mary Wollstonecraft, or Margaret Thatcher. If you do not know a name the books below can help you identify sources written by women.

• British Women's Diaries: A Descriptive Bibliography of Selected Nineteenth Century Women's Manuscript Diaries
• Encyclopedia of Women's Autobiography (Essays on individual authors and their works. Can search by Ethnicity/Nationality)
• Personal Writings by Women to 1900: a Bibliography of American and British Writers
• Women's Diaries, Journals, and Letters: An Annotated Bibliography (Includes a Place Index you can use to identify women by country)

Collections on Microformat

MANY primary source documents are in microformat (microfilm, fiche, etc…). What are Microforms?

• Cornell University Collection of Pamphlets on Women's Rights, 1814-1912
• Les Femmes: Rare Works from France from the Bibliothèque Nationale (127 titles dating from the 17th to 20th century)
• French Revolution Research Collection Section 9 : The Reorganization of Society (includes Women & the Family)
• Proletarische Frauenbewegung : of the 19th & Early 20th centuries : Alltagserfahrungen, Soziale Frage  Early texts about working class women in Germany
• Sex & Sexuality, 1640-1940. Part 1, Sources from the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London 61 texts on perceptions of the body and attitudes towards sex

Collections of Primary Sources Online

• Digital Library Classic Protestant Texts (16 th & 17 th century)
• Early English Books Online, 1475-1800
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online II, 1701-1800
• Empire Online, 1492-1969
• European Library (digital books, maps, images, etc…).
• Gender Issues and Sexuality: Essential Primary Sources (found in: Gale Virtual Reference Library)
• Internet Women's History Sourcebook
• Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Full text books, pamphlets and periodicals including many European publications)
• WomenWatch: Documents and Databases
• WSSLinks: Women and Gender Studies Sites on the Web

Early News and Magazine Articles

Magazine and news articles published shortly after an event can provide a snapshot of contemporary opinion on a topic, revealing current attitudes.

• America's Historical Newspapers,1690-1922. For a U.S. perspective on Europe.  Early editors often reprinted articles from European news sources, especially British publications
• American Periodicals Series, 1741-1900+.  Full-text of over 1,000 magazines. Some coverage of European events/topics
• Bibliographie der Deutschen Zeitschriftenliteratur, 1896-present. A print index to European publications, with an emphasis on German scholarship. Available online since 1984 as IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature)
• Early English Newspapers (microfromat).  Use The CAT to get a list of titles in the collection
• European Women's Periodicals. Unit 2: France and Unit 3: Germany. Political, professional and popular periodicals written for and by women. Many titles are not complete; for a list of issues included see the print guide
• New York Times Historical, 1851-2005 (Digital Archive)
• Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906). Mostly covers American publications, with some British sources
• Times of London, 1785-1985. After 1985 articles can be found on Academic Universe
• Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900. An index to articles in British sources on CD-ROM at the Arts & Humanities Reference Desk, 2 nd Floor Pattee Library

Looking for More? Not all news sources are online. Many more are on Microformat (microfilm, microfiche, etc...). See Microfinder for a list of newspapers on microfilm.